Do you have tape library/autoloader without barcode reader ?
If you don't have barcode reader I think you should to use vmphyinv command.

At the beginning you have to label all tapes which resides in autoloader, then use vmphyinv to inventory media. vmphyinv puts each tape in tape drive and reads tape header to determine media id.

Thank you for the reply
Hi Barcode reader are not in use now, YOu have mentioned that we need to label all the tapes  in autoloader- When we do an inventory /update inventory tapes are getting labelled, but thats not getting labelled permanent, if we remove and insert and then do an inventory again a new media ID will be given to them.So just to clarify when u said that At the beginning you have to label all tapes which resides in autoloader, did u mean manual labelling by right click label ?
 

yes, you can label tapes according to barcodes/names you have on the sticker.. you can have tapes called PROD01 instead of A00001.
How do you run runventory ?

Usually i put the tapes in and then right click robot->Robot Inventory->Update Volume Confg. and it will assign the media IDs ,but the prob as i mentioned is even if i insert a tape to which it has assinged a media ID if i remove the tape out of lib.and insert and then do an inventory again it will give a new media ID

Hi,

Lines from NetBackup Administrative guide1, page 451

Media ID prefix (non-robotic)
The Media ID prefix (non-robotic) property specifies the media ID prefix to use in media IDs when unlabeled media is found in nonrobotic drives. The prefix must be one to three alpha-numeric characters. NetBackup appends numeric characters. By default, NetBackup uses A and assigns media IDs such as A00000, A00001, and so on.
For example, if FEB is specified, NetBackup appends the remaining numeric characters. The assigned media IDs become FEB000, FEB001, and so on. (Note that this numbering does not work with the Configure Volumes wizard).

Because of this property, you need to physically label them to have an permament id for each media.

use a Barcode Generator software to generate labels of your choice and paste them to your media's

But Why do we need to do a manual labelling when there is an option in inventory robot to assign media IDs when we select and do update Vol Confg.this ID distribution via Inentory Robot is it not permanent?Yes Barcode's work fine but here by doubt is about media IDs assigned by Veritas itself

If you put a tape in the library without a barcode, or if it cannot read the barcode (because the barcode is not printed or formated correctly or the library barcode reader is not working correctly)

Then netbackup will assigen the tape a label of A+#

So if the first time you put it in it got A00001
now you eject it from the library
Now you put it in again, and again it cannot read the barcode so it gives it a new id - but it has NO idea that this was the A00001 tape, it just knows it is a tape it cannot read so it gives it a new number A00002.

because you are not "reading" the barcodes ( you said it was not in use)  netbackup has no way to know which tape is which.

Hi Boban,

Marak is correct - vmphyinv is your solution in the case you don't have barcode on tapes, or your library/autoloader's barcode reader is not enabled.

Vmphyinv would load/mount tapes in drives to read their header, and update EMM database.  So if you have a tape that has been used in NetBackup and still has valid backup image (in other words, this tape is still "assigned"), it should not give the tape a new Media ID.  I copied this description from the Admin Guide Volume 1:

The vmphyinv utility searches the EMM database. It checks if the media ID from the tape is present in the media ID field of any record in the EMM database. If the media ID exists, vmphyinv updates the NetBackup volume record that corresponds to the the media ID. If the media ID does not exist, vmphyinv creates a new NetBackup volume record that corresponds to the NetBackup media.

To read the whole details of how to use vmphyinv, please check the NetBackup Admin Guide Vol 1, under Chapter 9 Media -> "Robot inventory operations" -> "Using the physical inventory utility".

good one from CY, but this will be fine when you have very few tapes, so that you write on the media using a marker, but when you have more tapes,once you mount them and do Vmphyinv, NetBackup gives it a unique id, but how do you identify them when you do restores, you do not have phyical label on the tape.will you all the tapes?
in long run it is always better to paste label physically on the tape, as you keep on adding tapes in future and its a best practise too...

I have to say that's very true.  I can't image how we manage 4000 tapes across several data center / physical sites without using barcode on the tapes.  :-)

Thanks for all the updates i now realize that using Autoloaders -Tape Libraries with out Barcodes - not recommended, so switched to barcodes now, and all the above said details are true, as even Veritas team says that Barcode enabled libraries with Veritas will keep assigning new media ID to medias without barcodes when an robot->inventory update command is executed .Also it does't really write those media IDs to the tape headers when this inventory is done.
Thank You All.